Rodgers demands Liverpool response against Arsenal

Prior to their convincing 5-1 rout over West Ham last week, the Gunners had lost consecutive league matches to title-chasers Chelsea and before them Manchester City.

"We need to do better against the teams that are in the top half of the table. There's no denying that," insisted Rodgers.

"Lots of the teams feel that the home games are the real opportunities to win those big matches and a lot of our [games against the big clubs] came at the beginning of the season, when we were short of players and finding our way as a group.

"There's no doubt that in these big games, we want to do better in and it's something that we will strive to do.

"We'll arrive [at the Emirates] with clear motivation and appetite. We know that we have got two really big games this week [against Arsenal and Manchester City] and our only focus now is on those games."